I remember music. Aretha Franklin. Diana Ross. Al Green. Bruce Springsteen. Pink Floyd. The Jackson Five. Elton John. Roberta Flack. Smokey Robinson. Fleetwood Mac. Marvin Gaye. I remember What’s Going On, What a Fool Believes, It’s Over Now, Freebird, The Wall. I remember television. I remember I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, The Brady Bunch, The Wonderful World of Disney, Julia, The Flip Wilson Show, The Andy Griffith Show, American Bandstand, The Flintstones. I remember watching the news and asking my grandfather where Peking was and him telling me overseas. I remember watching a movie with my Great-Aunt Jonnie Mae and her turning off the set when the people got into bed together. I remember my first G.I. Joe and wondering if he could feel pins when I stuck him. I remember getting a toy robot for Christmas and it being broken before New Year’s. I remember show-and-tell in kindergarten and bringing my first record player and listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson.” I remember blowing bubbles.

I remember finally playing sports in high school and enjoying it. I remember sweat and breathlessness and a burning chest. I remember playing volleyball and soccer and basketball and tennis. I remember winning and feeling good and sorry for Terry Garner cause he never won; I remember losing and the coach telling me that I had to lean forward more when I ran the 220 and swing my arms more. I remember tripping one day and skinning my knee so bad that it hurt for two weeks and left a big scar.

I remember Batman and Superman and the Human Torch and the Thing and Wonder Woman and the Black Canary and the Green Arrow and Spider-Man and the Avengers. I remember wanting to be a superhero and first trying to design a suit like Iron Man’s so I could fly and then a costume like Batman’s so I could look tough, and I would think I could hide it under my clothes and come to somebody’s rescue, mysteriously, when something went wrong. I remember trying to build a shield like Captain America’s and finding out that there was no such thing as adamantium. I remember feeling tricked. I remember wanting to be rich and white and respected like Bruce Wayne and invulnerable and handsome and noble like Clark Kent. I remember my first Avengers comic book and that the Black Panther was in it and that he was the first black superhero I had ever seen and how he was angry cause they were making him be nice to a white man from a country called Rhodesia. I remember asking my grandfather where Rhodesia was and him telling me overseas.